Ph.D. in Robotics

The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University offers the dual degree Ph.D. in Robotics, together with:

• Universidade de Aveiro (Ph.D. in Computer Engineering), Universidade do Minho (Ph.D. in Informatics)  and the Universidade do Porto (FCUP, Ph.D. in Computer Science and FEUP, Ph.D. in Computer Science) as part of MAPi;
• Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências – FCUL (Ph.D. in Informatics) 
• Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto Superior Técnico (Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering, Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ph.D. in Information Security)
• Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia – FCTUNL (Ph.D. in Computer Science)
• Universidade de Coimbra, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia – FCTUC (Ph.D. in Information Science and Technology)

Objectives

The dual degree PhD Program in Robotics program is inherently interdisciplinary, bringing together areas of research that would otherwise be spread across different departments or separate universities. 

Students are involved in every aspect of research – from initial problem formulation to the final publication of results. Research is conducted in the laboratories of the Robotics Institute under the supervision of faculty advisers and in collaboration with student colleagues. Students in the PhD program are awarded a yearly graduate fellowship, which includes tuition, activity fees, and a stipend, as long as they maintain good standing in the program. 

Read More about the Course of Study (PDF)

Program

Requirements for the degree include coursework, a research qualifier, and submission of a thesis that describes original, independent research.

Upon completion of the coursework and other basic requirements (such as demonstrating writing and speaking skills, and TA’ing), students focus entirely on research, learning to work independently and collaboratively.

The following table indicates estimates for an appropriate distribution of effort in the Ph.D. program. It is based on actual student performance over the past few years; it also corresponds to the faculty’s judgment of realistic estimates of the time required by various components of the program. These figures are meant to be suggestive, not prescriptive. We present them so that all faculty and students can develop a shared image of the expectations of the program.

Course Structure

The course structure requirements and contents at CMU are available in the Robotics Institute website.

Supervision

Students will need to have at least two co-advisers, one from CMU and one from IST.

Type of Degree

The student will be awarded with a dual degree Ph.D conferred by CMU and another by the Portuguese partner University. During the Ph.D., the student should comply with the regulations of both Universities.